1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connector and to a connector assembly comprising it.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional connector is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-147474. This connector includes a housing with a terminal accommodating portion and an outer tubular portion, and an annular seal member to be mounted on the terminal accommodating portion. A mating housing is fitted between the terminal accommodating portion and the outer tubular portion, and the seal member is formed with a flange which projects radially outwardly and resiliently sandwiched between the two housings in a connected state. Further, the outer tubular portion is formed with a catching piece projecting inwardly.
An end surface of the flange serves as a pressing surface and, in the process of mounting the seal member into the housing, the pressing surface is pressed to push the seal member to a mount position. At the mount position, the flange resiliently moves past the catching portion and is engaged with the catching portion, whereby the seal member is mounted and retained in the housing.
In the above case, the pressing surface of the seal member is arranged at a position overlapping the catching portion in a width direction of the catching portion, i.e. arranged side by side with the catching portion in the projecting direction of the catching portion when the seal member is mounted into the housing.
In the case of the above conventional connector, it is difficult to ensure a sufficient space between the terminal accommodating portion and the outer tubular portion in the projecting direction of the catching portion. In addition, since the catching portion and the pressing surface are arranged side by side in this narrow space, a sufficient pressing area of the pressing surface cannot be ensured by being taken up by the catching portion. On the other hand, if the space between the terminal accommodating portion and the outer tubular portion is enlarged, it leads to enlargement of the housing, which is not preferable.
The invention was developed in view of the above situation and an object thereof is to improve operability of a connector and a connector assembly.